I look forward to the day that they are legally available in the USA. Its not the parents that are the problem, its the kids. But then again.... Our policy trailer for cell phones is absolutely no help. But, heck...the trailer ask them to pick up their garbage. Ya, pick it up off their laps, and throw it UNDER the seats.

I think its gonna be a little bit longer than we think before we can legally buy these devices. They were talking about them 7-10 years ago on Canada AM. On the other hand, I hope we do not have to wait that much longer for these devices to become legalized.

I would suggest a STRICT cell phone policy. Post a sign saying "Please refrain from cell phone use" That went on to say that there was "Zero tolerance on cell phone use" beyond the usher podium. Then, any complaints of cell phone use would result in a person being kindly removed from the theatre, with no refunds on any products purchased (popcorn, drinks or tickets). NO means NO!

Personally, if the cell phone waves are trespassing on your private property, I believe you should have the right to block those signals.

[This message has been edited by Andrew McCrea (edited December 04, 2005).]

Cell phone jamming is not legal, but cell phone detection seems to be. It is possible to install systems that will detect cell phone signals and then respond in a variety of ways.

See www.globalgadgetuk.com/cell-phone-detectors.htm
This web page has a good variety of devices available. The model 610 seems to have the most capability and options. It is available from American companies too. I just wanted to reference a site that showed the best variety.

One system has a panel sign light up in the auditorium asking people to turn off their cell phones when a signal is detected. Another option would allow a tone and a verbal recorded message to ask people to turn off cell phones. Other options include connection to a remote monitor to notify staff of offending usage. This last options seems like the most useful to me, but you would need staff to respond to notices.

Then there are hand held devices you could use to aid the staff-member in tracking down the offender. This handheld gadget has something like cold, warm, and hot lights.

Now, all that said, it might not be any better than to just put ushers in the auditoriums to start with. The most offensive part of a cell phone call is likely to be the ringer. A detection device would likely only notify after the ringer has sounded. (That would be my choice of when I would want to be notified for reasons I'll describe in a moment.)

Detection devices can also actually detect auto registration signals from cell phones as well, which would mean that you could ask people to turn off their cell phones before they ring. The problem I see with this is that people have cell phones for a reason. They want to be able to be contacted in case somebody needs them. Why would a parent want to turn off their phone completely, when little Johnny or little Janie might fall and hurt themselves or get sick under the babysitter's care. Oh sure, most cell phone calls are not for such important reasons, but there is always the possibility they could be, even if Janie is now somebody's grandma, or Johnny is a friend from work.

Ok, so you don't want to ask people to turn off their phones completely if you think like me. I would ask them to switch from ring to vibrate, but they may choose not to bother. After all, many people already ignore the policy trailers and the signs that ask them to turn off their cell phones. So now, we're back to square one.

I think if a theater is tough on customers who abuse their cell phone privileges, then eventually people will realize they should turn the phone to vibrate and then step outside to carry on a conversation. For those who continue to be discourteous, you can track down the ones who carry on cell phone conversations of any length and ask them to leave. But, by the time you find them they may be talking in a very low voice (ok, maybe not so low) on their phone while a group of people a few rows away are making far more noise among themselves with no cell phone among them. What to do... What to do? Do you kick the guy out with the cell phone (because you have a zero tolerance policy) and then merely warn the others to be quiet? Maybe you kick them all out? I guess that would be a judgement call.

Yes, life would sure be a lot simpler if we could just use jammers, but then again nothing is ever simple anymore.

Not that they make much difference, but Sony has a new policy trailer available on their website (www.sonypicturesreleasing.com) that stars Steve Martin as Inspector Clouseau from the Pink Panther. It "encourages patrons to be quiet during the movie and to turn off cell phones". You can watch the trailer online (runs 1 minute 15 seconds) and order them from the website. I watched it before ordering some and found it amusing.

If you've been in any movie theater in New York, you've likely seen this: people on their cell phones during the show.
The National Association of Theater Owners has seen it too - and is asking the feds to let movie houses install devices that block mobile phone signals.

Theater owners "have to block rude behavior" if they hope to win back audiences that increasingly wait for the movie to come out on DVD, John Fithian, president of the trade organization, told the Los Angeles Times.

But the owners face a battle from lobbyists with the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association.

"We're opposed to the use of any blocking technology, because it interferes with people's ability to use a wireless device in an emergency situation," agency spokesman Joseph Farren told the Times over the weekend.

That was on the news up here, too. Two items that seem decent arguments. First: All theatres have either pay phones, which can make emergency calls without prepayment. or private lines from which emergency calls can be made.

Second: There are holes everywhere in everyone's cellular network, which would prevent an emergency call. It's ironic to me that cell users only seem to have a "right" to unlimited coverage in the areas that their providers have chosen to cover. (?)

At present, cell signals may be legally blocked with passive materials, such as the wallboard that's been mentioned here. The major objection from the FCC seems to be the potential for electronic cell jammers to exceed the boundaries of the buildings they're supposed to protect, and that the FCC could find itself in the position of policing the thousands of installations that legalization could cause.

Last night I heard on my police scanner a woman was having a severe seizure in the theater auditrorium of a huge local megaplex. The dispatcher told the responding medics the call was coming from a cell phone of a patron in the theater auditorium. That patron directed the medics directly to the correct auditorium and the correct seat where the lady was having the seizure. The dispatcher was providing the caller with instructions on how to help this lady until the medics arrived. That cell phone helped tremendously in saving this woman's life and saved precious seconds in getting the medical help there as quickly as possible.

So... are you saying that cell phone access in an auditorium would be a good thing, Ken?

Before cell phones, someone would have had to leave the auditorium and pass the correct information to a manager, who would have made a phone call... probably from the boxoffice. Same result, and no free advertising for the cell phone industry!

Part of what we do is provide atmosphere. Just like a restaurant, people pay for a certain atmosphere. If we not careful we will destroy that atmosphere brick by brick while ticket buyers depart in a drip drip drip because they no longer care for the degraded public experience. In 11 years of my theatre no one went weithout medical attention ever. I vote for blocking cell phones.
Michael Hurley
Impresario